Material Properties and Materials Science

What this page covers

This page sits in the Materials strand of Engineering and technology (general or other). It collects resources on what materials are, how they behave and how they are chosen. Most are mind maps, with flashcard decks, quizzes, flowcharts and a few notes alongside them.

Where to start

Begin with the overview maps. Properties of Materials sorts raw materials by origin, then walks through physical, electric, thermal, optical and acoustic properties. material properties lists headings such as mechanical, chemical, magnetic and radiological. Then try the Choosing a material flashcards, which cover strength, ductility, hardness, toughness and more.

1. Read an overview map to see the whole topic.
2. Learn the vocabulary with Definitions, which runs from alloy and annealing to Burgers vector.
3. Move to a specific family of materials.

Material families

• Composites: the Composite Materials map covers fibreglass, carbon fibre, Kevlar and polymeric matrices, with properties such as corrosion resistance and thermal resistance.
• Ceramics and polymers: the Ceramics and Polymers deck has Frenkel and Schottky defects, vulcanization, copolymers and glass transition temperature.
• Metals: look at the notes on metallurgy, the deck on steel and the one on non-ferrous metals.
• Newer materials: the Nanotechnology map includes fluidic self assembly.

Using maps and quizzes together

Read a map first, then close it and test yourself. The lecture maps, such as Materials lecture 2(b), deal with true stress, true strain and Poisson's ratio, so they pair well with a quiz on mechanical behaviour. Several quizzes are named after courses or midterms, so check which ones match what you are studying. Teachers can use the maps and decks as ready-made starting points for a lesson.

Next step

Choose one family of materials, open its map, then take a quiz and see what you remember. If you want to go further, make a deck of your own for the terms you missed.